Pop Goes Panini
by SlayerBVC
Summary: Chowder and Ceviche learn of Panini's long hidden fear of balloons, and try to help her overcome it. But when Gorgonzola finds out about her case of Globophobia, he does everything he can to hamper their efforts.
1. Chapter 1

**Pop Goes Panini  
**

**Quick Notes**

**-**This fic takes place about 1½ weeks after the events of INYGF.

-Sub-note: This fic contains ONE spoiler from INYGF.

-Why did I give Nini a fear of balloons (Globophobia)? Read and you might find out.

**Chapter 1**

"Wow that was fun." Chowder said, still dizzy and struggling to stand up.

"Let me help you num nums." Panini offered, grabbing the young chef's shoulders and holding him in place until his head ceased spinning.

"Thanks for that Nini.*" he said to his best friend*. "No problem." she replied. Gorgonzola and Ceviche were both behind them, one of whom looked a bit greener in the face than usual. Gorgonzola ran from the group as he felt his lunch coming back up.

"So what should we go on next?" Ceviche asked in his monotone voice. The four apprentices were at the annual Marzipan City Carnival, which was only in town for 3 days out of the whole year. There were all sorts of rides, food, games, pretty much any good distraction a kid could ask for, it was here.

They had just gotten off of a ride called the Egg Scrambler, and as if the name wasn't enough of a clue, it was a ride that spun about eight free-spinning cars around on a motorized spinning track. The ride had left Chowder extremely dizzy, Panini and Ceviche slightly dizzy, and made Gorgonzola lose his lunch.

"Hey how about the Ferris Wheel?" Chowder suggested. Everybody seemed to like that idea. As they went over to where the ride was, they went past a stand selling balloon animal cookies. A little kid had just been given one by his mom and as Panini walked past him, the balloon pastry popped. Chowder had no time to react, as a terrified Panini clung to the back of his head.

"Panini, what's wrong?" Ceviche asked the object of his affections.

"Yeah Nini what's the matter? I haven't seen you freak out like this since a week ago." Chowder also asked, clearly remembering his attempt at using reverse psychology. Panini quickly let go of her friend and decided that now was as good a time as any to explain herself.

"Sorry guys, I've kinda been afraid of balloons since I was little." She started to explain. "Well that sounds like a pretty odd fear." Chowder commented. "It's not the balloons that I'm afraid of, it's when they pop. *shudders* They're just so loud." Panini clarified.

"I'm so sorry for you Panini." Ceviche said.

"Thanks Ceviche." Panini replied. "But I know this isn't going to go away anytime soon."

"What if we helped you get rid of your fear Nini?" Chowder offered. Panini got a little bit of a smile back on her face. It would be great if she could be rid of this stupid fear that she's had since she was two years old, and they were at a carnival, the perfect place to get rid of such a phobia. "Sure let's go for it." Panini accepted.

However, Gorgonzola had been watching them that whole tome, and couldn't stop snickering to himself. "Panini's afraid of balloons, that's so pathetic!" But then the candle holder began remembering all the times Panini had hurt him. He hadn't been able to find a non-Chowder-related chink in her personality until now, and if Chowder and Ceviche actually cured her, he'd be at her mercy again. "Better make the most of this while I can." Gorgonzola decided, running off to get some balloon animal cookies.

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**Author's Notes**

1.) I'm going to have Chowder refer to Panini as Nini 95% of the time.

2.) This is the Spoiler.

* * *

So this was the first chapter of my second Chowder fic, Pop Goes Panini. You can only begin to imagine what Gorgy's going to do to Nini now that he knows what she's afraid of.

Most people who are afraid of balloons aren't afraid of the balloons, it's the loud POP that comes when somebody pops a balloon that scares them.

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Expect Chapter Two in a few days. Please Review!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The two boys decided to start small in their first attempt to help their friend. Chowder took out and inflated a small balloon from a bag of them he had in his hat*. But he had already run into a problem, Chowder had nothing to pop the balloon with, at least he didn't until he glanced at Ceviche's horns and got an idea. "Um... Ceviche do you mind if I er..." Chowder didn't want to say it out loud, and instead was doing his best to pantomime the action of popping the balloon.

"Yes, go ahead Chowder." Ceviche said. "Thanks buddy. Oh and you might want to cover your ears." Ceviche heeded his friend's advice and covered up his ears with his hooves. Pop! It was a relatively small sound, and though it made Panini jump a little, her reaction wasn't as bad as the one from thirty minutes ago.

"Well, I guess that was okay." Panini said calmly. Unbeknownst to the kids, Gorgonzola was right above them. All he was waiting for was for Chowder and Ceviche to turn away from Panini for about ten seconds. 'Perfect.' Gorgonzola thought.

He carefully leaned down, and held one of his balloon animal cookies about nine inches from her ears. Gorgonzola took the pin that was in his other hand and 'Pop!' the doughy balloon burst. Panini let out a scared yelp and once again clung onto Chowder, though this time she was shivering uncontrollably. The boys took a quick look at their frightened friend, neither one of them having any idea as to where the other balloon had come from.

"I think that this may call for more drastic steps." Ceviche suggested. Chowder had to agree with him on that. "In that case I'm gonna needs me some bigger balloons." the young chef added, neither one of them noticing that a certain candle holder was keeping another balloon animal cookie over top of the terrified girl.

Panini only saw the animal shaped pastry, and took off screaming. It was getting dark when she ran off, Chowder and Ceviche decided that maybe they should let her get some sleep, and they could try again tomorrow.

Meanwhile, once he saw that the three of them were gone, Gorgonzola burst out in hysterical laughter that he'd been holding in for the last hour. "I can't believe how easy that was! And the best part is, I get to do it all over again tomorrow." he said smugly to himself. He'd have his revenge yet.

Chowder came into the catering company. "Oh, hello Chowder. How was the carnival?" Mung asked his apprentice.

"It was great. But then we found out that Nini had a fear of balloons, and me and Ceviche tried to help her get rid of it. We made some progress, but then somebody popped a balloon animal cookie right next to her, and a few minutes after that she ran back to Ms. Endive's." Chowder said nearly running out of breath.

"What makes you so sure they were balloon animal cookies?" Truffles butted in.

"Truffles, look who you're talking to." Chowder said pointing to his nose.

"Kid's got a point honey bunch." Mung said in agreement, which was met with a frying pan to the head from his wife. "Anyways Chowder I'm sure you'll be able to help her somehow. After all I think that's what a good friend would do."

As he sat in bed that night, Chowder kept writing down any ideas he got that could help him the next day. "We have to get her over this. If we give up, it'll stay with her for a long time." Chowder said to himself.

"FFPPT FFPPT FFPPT!" Kimchi farted.

"Thanks Kimchi, but I'm pretty sure that wouldn't work." Chowder told the stink cloud.

"Ffppt." Kimchi looked a liitle disappointed. Both of them were asleep moments later.

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**Author's Note**

1.) Don't ask why Chowder has a bag of balloons in his hat, it doesn't matter.

* * *

So as you can see Chowder and Ceviche don't get too far in their first attempt to help Nini conquer her fear of balloons, no thanks to Gorgy and his balloon animal cookies.

Chapter three will be up near the middle of the week.

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Please Review!


	3. Chapter 3

**Pop Goes Panini**

**Chapter 3**

(Note: No dialogue from Gorgy in this chapter, as it is mostly during nighttime and he has a job to do*.)

Ceviche didn't fare any better in coming up with a solution for Panini's fright. But he didn't let it get the better of him, as he decided to start his usual nighttime meditations before he went to sleep*. Unfortunately he kept hearing the sound of his crush screaming out of fear in his mind, and gave up on the meditating for that night.

"I really wish we had more time. I think that there was so much more we could have done for her." Ceviche said to himself as he climbed onto his bed. "But tomorrow's another day. *yawn*"

As both boys were sound asleep, Panini was tossing and turning constantly in her bed. It was after midnight when she began to slip into a nightmare. She was alone in the carnival, not a soul was there as she walked through the grounds. Panini kept calling out to her friends, Ms. Endive, and for some strange reason Gorgonzola, but got no reply.

All of the stands were locked up, all except for one. Panini was standing in front of the balloon animal cookie stand, and soon one by one, the puffy balloon pastries started coming out of the front of the stand. Panini thought fast and removed the wooden block that held the window open. The balloons were trapped but this was a problem, as she saw the structure start to shake. Some of the pink dough started to come through the gaps in the wood walls, and then 'POP!!!'

Panini's eyes burst open and she was slightly shaking until she got up to get her life-sized Chowder doll out of her closet, it was the one thing that could help her get back to sleep*. "I really hope you and Ceviche can help me through this num nums." she said to the doll apprentice quietly, as she carried it back to her bed. Panini wrapped her arms around the plushy lookalike, but didn't get to sleep for another forty minutes.

She still woke up at 6:00 as Ms. Endive had made her get into the habit of doing every day. Panini's eyes were bloodshot and there were some dark circles underneath them, proof of her not getting a full night's sleep. But to add insult to injury, Ms. Endive went through their daily routines as normal, not once noticing Panini's exhausted state.

But thankfully any orders that they had were done by mid afternoon, and Endive allowed Panini to go back to the Carnival. Chowder and Ceviche were waiting by the carnival entrance for her.

"Hey Nini, whoa you look terrible." Chowder noted.

"Yes Panini what happened?" Ceviche asked.

"Bad dream. So let's get this over with." she said flatly, urging the boys along.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

1.) Remember from "The Spookiest House in Marzipan"

2.) Ceviche to me always seemed like the kind of person who would take up meditation.

3.) -Yes Panini still has her crush on Chowder, she just doesn't show it in public anymore.

-If you've read INYGF and you're wondering why Nini didn't go for her Chowder doll when she had her nightmare, the answer's simple. She just had a nightmare about Chowder so why take the risk of making it worse.

-Panini probably does have one of these even if we haven't seen it, because after all as much as she would like it, she can't be with Chowder all the time.

* * *

Not much from Chowder in this chapter. Once again I use a nightmare in the middle of the story to move the plot along.

* * *

Next Chapter: Panini is still succumbing to her fear. That is, until she discovers who's been tormenting her.

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I've given up on setting dates for getting chapters up, I'll get to it when I get to it.

Please Review


	4. Chapter 4

**Pop Goes Panini**

**Chapter 4**

Panini wanted to be sure that only balloons made by her friends would get near her. "Ceviche, please keep an eye out for anything Chowder doesn't make. Okay?" Ceviche nodded back and went to hide behind the food stands.

"Okay Panini, ready to try this again? Um... Nini?" Chowder finished blowing up his first balloon to find that she had fallen asleep. Chowder sighed, took out a toothpick and stuck the balloon with it, startling Panini awake. "Sorry, didn't know how else to wake you up."

"It's okay num nums, I'll try to stay awake." Panini said back to him, this was the one thing she hadn't considered. Her inability to stay awake today. POP! Wait, did she just not react to a balloon popping?

"Hey, you didn't flip out that time. Maybe we can do this today after all." Chowder said optimistically. He blew another balloon up and put it a little closer than last time. POP! She still didn't react. Chowder kept repeating that process until he ran out of balloons. "So anything?" he asked.

"Nope, I think I just got so bored with hearing the sound, it stopped scaring me." Panini said happily. Unaware of Gorgonzola's presence right behind her.

'No, not yet. I've come too far to stop.' Gorgonzola held up the largest balloon he could find and POP!!! He was laughing so hard at Panini that he didn't even notice that she saw him.

"Gorgonzola. What's so funny?" she asked him angrily.

"You being afraid of balloons that's what." he said smugly.

"Wait a minute, you've been doing this to me haven't you?"

"Well-"

"HAVEN'T YOU?!" she yelled.

"Yeah, I have. So, what are you gonna do about it?" It took only two seconds for Gorgonzola to realize that he had effectively sent himself back to square one. He promptly got on his feet and tried to run only to be stopped right away when Panini held down his tail with her foot.

Gorgonzola swallowed hard and started screaming, as Panini popped her claws and began beating him senseless as Chowder and Ceviche watched with unblinking eyes. "There truly is no greater strength than a female's fury." Ceviche said to his friend.

"You said it buddy. Ooh, that's gonna need stitches." Chowder said back.

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And that does it for "Pop Goes Panini." Moral of the story, don't make Nini angry. The only way I ever saw this story ending was with Panini discovering that Gorgy was responsible for her current suffering, and subsequently beating the tar out of him for doing it.

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Playing Along for Papa follows almost another week-and-a-half after this fic. Be sure to read it!

* * *

Oh and as for Gorgonzola's injuries, he got a black eye, a broken arm, and thirty stitches. Ouch! Don't expect to see him for a while.

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Please Review


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